Question

Jemurray, get over here!

Answer 1

Yes sir...

Answer 2

Is quantum mechanics the study of how particles like atoms and photons work?

Answer 3

Are electrons, neurons, photons, protons and neutrinos made of smaller pieces or are they the smallest matter that exists?

Answer 4

In a sense. It became clear around the beginning of the 20th century that the Newtonian physics that governed the macroscopic world was not sufficient to describe the behavior of small particles like electrons.

Answer 5

What are newtonian physics?

Answer 6

classical physics based on Newton's laws

Answer 7

What is a quark?

Answer 8

Oh, like gravity and movement?

Answer 9

one question at a time Inopeki!

Answer 10

Aw..

Answer 11

In the standard model of particle physics there are two classes of matter particles. We have quarks, which feel the strong nuclear force, and leptons, which do not. Electrons, Muons, Tauons, and the neutrinos are leptons. The quarks bind together in threes to form baryons, like protons and neutrinos, and in twos to form mesons, like the pi and the rho.

Answer 12

The photon, the gluon, and the W and Z bosons are classified as force carrier particles. They are the particles that mediate the electromagnetic, strong, and weak nuclear forces, respectively.

Answer 13

And now i have to ask,
What do you mean by "feeling the strong nuclear force"?
What else characterises and explains a lepton?
What are muons and tauons?
What is a baryon?
What is a meson?
Is that pi the constant of circular objects that i know?
What is rho?

Answer 14

that's way more than one question :/

Answer 15

But i cant remember all the questions otherwise :(

Answer 16

I think you should spend more time reading books, it's a great thing you have interest in physics but to really get physics you need to get understanding of math (calculus, algebra, trigonometry, vectors) too. I advise you to read more from books, they will help you much better.

Answer 17

The photon, the gluon, and the W and Z bosons are classified as force carrier particles. They are the particles that mediate the electromagnetic, strong, and weak nuclear forces, respectively.
What is a gluon?
What does makes it useful to us?
So without the photons, gluons and the W and Z bosons electromagnetism and nuclear forces wouldnt exist?

Answer 18

Alright, i just ordered a book yesterday called "The Elegant Universe"

Answer 19

Not all particles experience the four known forces. Leptons do not feel the strong force in the same way that neutrinos don't feel the electromagnetic force. A baryon is a composite particle made of three quarks, a meson is a composite particle made of two. Pi and rho are just names given to the particles because there are a ton of them and we need to give them labels.

Answer 20

^^ Agreed. I can answer your questions but I don't think you'll get a very deep understanding of anything unless you do some more reading. It's great that you're so enthusiastic about the subject but take your time and learn the basics well, or else you'll go crazy trying to sift through the mountains of detail involved in subtle topics like quantum mechanics.

Answer 21

What is the strong force?
Are you saying that elecrtomagnetism doesnt effect neutrinos in any way?

Answer 22

Alright :(

Answer 23

The strong force binds quarks together. And no, it does not affect neutrinos at all.

Answer 24

I guess i have always been the guy who jumps out in the deep end first..

Answer 25

neutrino's are electrically neutral, like neutrons, hence the name
so no they fell no electromagnetic force

Answer 26

feel*

Answer 27

Oh, i see! so is that what holds the atom core together?

Answer 28

no neutrinos are different than neutrons

Answer 29

I meant the strong force

Answer 30

I know that

Answer 31

Yes, the strong force holds the nucleus together. It's very powerful but also very short range.

Answer 32

Why dont the electrons also stick to the nucleus? because of the short range of the strong force or because electrons are somehow not effected by it? has an electron ever collided with a nucleus?

Answer 33

hmm i think it's higher mathematics, that's what my physics teacher told me, it's probably calculated through some certain laws and probabilities.

Answer 34

they have specific orbit as neil bohr found out

Answer 35

But static electricity is about taking away electrons from something right? Shouldnt they be able to go inward if they are able to leave the orbit?

Answer 36

i think neil bohr assumed it, i don't know if it's true but i think this is what i have read in my book

Answer 37

What is your book?

Answer 38

"has an electron ever collided with a nucleus?" Yes. In the densest ordinary matter that we know of, neutron stars, the pressures and forces on atoms are so great that electrons are driven into the nucleus and covert the protons into neutrons.

Answer 39

Forming a kind of "only neutron" atom neucleus?

Answer 40

That is something of a deep question. Firstly, no, the electrons are not affected by the strong force because they are leptons. What you must understand is that electrons don't zoom around the nucleus like planets orbiting the sun.... they do not have well-defined trajectories or paths. Instead they exist in indeterminate states often referred to as the "electron cloud" for lack of a better analogy. The electrons may interact with their nuclei in many ways, and it is possible for the electron to spend time inside the nuclear core.

Answer 41

I see.. But if the orbit is unorganised electrons should collide all the time..

Answer 42

you are missing the wave nature of the electrons. That will explain one reason why they do not "collide" in the traditional sense.

Answer 43

So they repel eachother in some way?

Answer 44

( But it's worth stating that even if electrons exist in an 'indeterminate state', they do not exist in an altogether undetermined state. We have very precise expressions of how electrons are distributed and behave, expressions that lead to predictions that have been verified experimentally a million times. What we have a very hard time doing is explaining this in terms of everyday phenomena. They just don't behave like everyday objects, a pen, a cup, a drop of water, a breath of air. )

Answer 45

why would electrons collide, they don't have well define orbits (the ones in your imagination) and i think you also have to include the electrostatics forces and nuclear forces too

Answer 46

JamesJ, is that what quantum mechanics is about?

Answer 47

What electrostatic forces?

Answer 48

^ Yes, it is. Electrostatic forces are the forces between electrically charged particles. I think you should learn a bit more about the physics that we had before the 1900's before you try to delve more deeply into quantum mechanics.

Answer 49

Butbutbut..

Answer 50

Quantum Mechanics is the study of the physics of matter on the smallest scale: usually atoms and smaller.

Answer 51

Agree completely with JEM.

Also agree completely with the comments above about reading.

Answer 52

inopeki you have gone too far i guess lol start with mechanics, elegant universe is a novel not a proper physics book, i might be wrong but first do your class books and then some college books.

Answer 53

elegant universe is not a novel...

Answer 54

What more books do i need? i have done my class books!

Answer 55

"The Elegant Universe" is not a novel, but quite a good popular account of modern physics, with a slant towards string theory.

Answer 56

oh my bad i haven't read it, i shouldn;t have commented on it sorry

Answer 57

It would be nice if you knew classical mechanics through calculus. Unfortunately that means you need calculus first.
Science and especially math are cumulative subjects. It's very difficult to talk about how electrons and other particles behave when you can't be shown the equations, or when you don't know all the laws of classical mechanics.

Answer 58

Second that.

Answer 59

Third

Answer 60

What things did you say i needed before starting calculus? trigonometry and algebra?

Answer 61

yes...how far did you get with math in school?

Answer 62

So in short, learn more math, and learn classical physics very well. Then learn electromagnetism. I only know what I know about QM through my own studies.
-Algebra, Algebraic Geometry, Trigonometry, and then Calculus.
Probably in that order.

Answer 63

Inopeki is 14, so he hasn't done trig yet

Answer 64

Vectors too

Answer 65

yes^

Answer 66

Nope, is trig college level or..?

Answer 67

no, high school

Answer 68

Not in sweden... I have a basic knowledge of vectors and scalars and velocities andthose.

Answer 69

I doubt very much that calculus is not part of the HS curriculum in Sweden. We're not talking Alabama here. ;-)

Answer 70

haha, how good/bad is really USA educational system if I may ask?

Answer 71

Hmm I don't think I am doing a right thing here but, if at some point of time you feel confident to study physics in much detail; I'd recommend http://www.amazon.com/University-Physics-Modern-MasteringPhysics-12th/dp/080532187X

Answer 72

it's lame, unless you take AP (advanced placement)

Answer 73

depends where you are. Even in the same city it can be fantastic and horrible. But the results on the standardized tests tell a sad story. On average Americans are lagging behind in many key subjects.

Answer 74

I have the 9th grade book and the 8th grade book and cant find calculus in any of them. The only thing that i think is trigonometry i can find in this book is pythagoras (something, its "sats" in swedish). And thats under geometry.

Answer 75

I wouldn't think so!
lol

Answer 76

calculus doesn't start typically until years 11 and 12.

Answer 77

AP, is that like a special class or something like that?

Answer 78

its better than the swedish system at least!

Answer 79

AP = Advanced Placement. Long story short, advanced versions of HS subjects that can give you university credit.

Answer 80

OH, here high school is 6th-9th grade :)

Answer 81

what is 10-12 grade called?
that's where you'll learn most of this stuff.

Answer 82

Gymnasiet - i guess gymnasium in english.

Answer 83

huh...I'm from Croatia and i can't say I'm proud of our educational system.

Answer 84

Sweden beats the US in the OECD ranking. But still, it lags even in science which is sad:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2010/dec/07/world-education-rankings-maths-science-reading#data

Answer 85

Same here, exept the croatia part..

Answer 86

(sweden beat the US in mathematics)

Answer 87

someone look at my question

Answer 88

Yeah, that sucks cause we have lots of students who have extra interest in science. Me and a girl in my class are going to join in on physics lectures at one of the "gymnasies" here. I find it hard to believe that sweden beat the us in math.

Answer 89

Maybe their relative skills beats the us.

Answer 90

Well that's nice. We didn't have those kind of opportunities. So sometimes few guys from my class and our teacher would stay after class to chill out and solve interesting problems. Not that they didn't do it because they didn't have money for a program or something, it was just easier this way, no pressure just fun :D

Answer 91

The US is a big place. When you average out the whole country, all 'Alabamas" as James pointed out, keep the country's score pretty dismal.

Answer 92

That sounds fun! Im gonna make sure to tell my teacher to give students that opportunity.

Answer 93

Well that must suck, why is alabama such a bad educational place?

Answer 94

How high level algebra will i need?

Answer 95

lol, poor alabama is getting kicked around

Answer 96

How much algebra do you need?
All that you can stomach.

Answer 97

I see.. This is where ill start, ok? http://www.khanacademy.org/#browse

Answer 98

Do i really have to learn all that math? Its impossible even if youre good at math..